Breaking: Pushkar Singh Dhami to be next Uttarakhand Chief Minister

Pushkar Singh Dhami to be the next Uttarakhand Chief Minister, said Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday after the legislative party meeting. 

The BJP legislative party meeting to elect the new chief minister of Uttarakhand had begun here around 5 pm. It was attended by BJP's central observers for Uttarakhand Rajnath Singh, Meenakshi Lekhi and the party's poll incharge for the state, Pralhad Joshi.

Dhami under whose leadership the BJP had contested the February 14 Assembly polls was the frontrunner for the post.

Also Read: Meet Pushkar Dhami, who is set to be Uttarakhand CM despite losing in Assembly Elections

The BJP's dilemma on the choice of a chief minister for Uttarakhand was caused by Dhami's loss in Khatima, a seat he had been winning since the 2012 Assembly polls.

The BJP won the popular mandate for the second consecutive term in Uttarakhand, bagging 47 seats in the 70-member Assembly.

Six MLAs of the Bharatiya Janata Party have announced their willingness to vacate their Assembly seats to help Dhami get elected to the House. Dhami had lost to Bhuwan Chandra Kapri (Congress candidate) by a margin of 6,579 votes. Dhami got a total of 41,598 votes with a vote share of 44.8 per cent as against Kapri who got 48,177 with a huge vote share of 51.89 per cent.

(With inputs from PTI)